About this Author

Ernest Miller pursues research and writing on cyberlaw, intellectual property, and First Amendment issues. Mr. Miller attended the U.S. Naval Academy before attending Yale Law School, where he was president and co-founder of the Law and Technology Society, and founded the technology law and policy news site LawMeme. He is a fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.
Ernest Miller's blog postings can also be found @CopyfightLawMeme

When the Rathergate story broke, I studied it with interest and amusement. I did not post anything on this blog about it, because I generally stay "on-topic," which means that I focus on technology law and policy. However, I am also very concerned about freedom of experession issues and the development of blogging as a new media form. I initiated the first, as far as I am aware, blog conference at an academic institution: Revenge of the Blog at Yale Law School.

By this past Monday evening, however, the story had clearly become one involving serious questions about the future of news reporting and I decided to join the conversation on this blog. This story is important because the blatant flouting of basic and fundamental journalistic practices by one of the largest and prominent news organizations in the country is undermining the credibility of journalism as a whole. Jay Rosen has asked how the press can "win" during this election season (Campaign Puzzler: How the Press Comes Out with a Win). Well, I think that right now, the press is falling farther and farther behind in points. If major news organizations think that their credibility is not tarnished by a rogue CBS, they are sadly mistaken.

It is disappointing to me that the major media has been mostly silent in their condemnation of CBS's response to this scandal. Even granting, against reason, that there remains a serious debate about the authenticity of the documents, and that CBS's "checks and balances" for vetting this story were sufficient, the response of CBS to its critics has been outrageous. Where are the outraged calls for more transparency on the part of CBS News from the editorial boards of the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune or Wall Street Journal? Why haven't anchors of the other networks called for CBS to establish an internal, or better yet, an external investigation into the issue? Any profession that won't police its own when members egregiously violate the fundamental tenets of that profession will very quickly lose all credibility.

More importantly, the press plays a vital and critical role in forcing transparency on government. How effectively will the press be able to play that role if it adopts the stonewalling tactics of the government when it is subject to criticism? If our watchdogs cannot even watch themselves, the Fourth Estate will become ever more ineffective.

Many of my most important criticisms aren't about content, but about process. Many stories will lead to valid disagreements over nuance, omissions, and etc. However, there are fundamental aspects of process that virtually all can agree upon. CBS News has violated many of these. And, even where I criticize CBS News content, it is generally with the belief that a news organizations should be especially fair and even-handed in responding to criticism.

I should also note that this isn't about Dan Rather. I couldn't care less about Dan Rather. This is about CBS News as an organization. Although Dan Rather has been the focus for attention for many, the majority of my criticisms are directed at CBS News as a whole.

Whether you agree that the documents are forged, clearly credible and legitimate questions about their authenticity have been raised. CBS News has not responded to criticisms with transparency and responsibility we should expect from any news organization, let alone such a large and important one.

The following is an analysis and timeline of CBS's response to their critics. It is abundantly clear that CBS's actions when questioned about the validity of their reporting are a breach of what should be fundamental journalistic practice. Either that, or CBS News is hopelessly incompetent.

If I've missed something or erred, please let me know.

Read on...

Thursday, September 9th

Weblogs such as Power Line (The sixty-first minute), LittleGreenFootballs (Bush Guard Documents: Forged), and INDC Journal (Are the CBS National Guard Documents Fake?) raise serious, credible questions about the authenticity of the documents. There were other blogs involved, but this isn't an exhaustive history of the blogger's role. In any case, although not all the arguments and questions raised were ultimately found valid, many remain unanswered. In particular, INDC Journal is to be commended for seeking and obtaining the opinion of a recognized expert in the field of document examination. I should also note that CBS News should be commended for putting the documents on the web in the first place, though apparently they put real cruddy copies up, as we will see below.

Later that day, several major news organizations begin developing stories based on the concerns with the memos' authenticity raised by bloggers. When contacted, CBS stood by its story and spokesperson Kelli Edwards made the following claim in an email according to WorldNetDaily (CBS News denies Bush docs forged):

"CBS verified the authenticity of the documents by talking to individuals who had seen the documents at the time they were written. These individuals were close associates of [Bush commander] Colonel Jerry Killian and confirm that the documents reflect his opinions at the time the documents were written." [emphasis added]

This is a remarkable claim and, if true, would do much to prove the authenticity of the documents. Note that CBS claims not one contemporaneous witness but at least two "individuals." Of course, these sources may desire to remain anonymous. However, there is plenty of evidence that these sources, who saw the documents written, could provide about how they were created in order to answer critic's charges. For example, the sources may remember the type of equipment used to create the document, or whether it was written by Killian himself, or typed for him by another individual or even by one of the sources themselves. Unfortunately, to date, CBS has not named the individuals who saw the documents at the time they were written, nor has CBS provided any additional information that such sources could provide to clear up questions about the authenticity of the documents. Furthermore, CBS no longer reiterates this claim.

This is particularly odd in light of the fact that CBS has reported the views of Killian's secretary, Marian Knox, who denies that Killian would have typed the documents himself or that the CBS memos were consistent with documents from Killian's National Guard offices. CBS has not addressed the question of how their claim of sources "who had seen the documents at the time they were written" is consistent with the claim of Killian's secretary, which would shed much light on the matter.

Does CBS stand by this remarkable claim of more than one source who saw the documents at the time they were written? If not, why not? If this was a mistatement, it would be quite significant and hardly in keeping with the standards of a major news organization.

Documents unearthed by CBS News that raise doubts about whether President Bush fulfilled his obligations to the Texas Air National Guard include several features suggesting that they were generated by a computer or word processor rather than a Vietnam War-era typewriter, experts said yesterday.

Experts consulted by a range of news organizations pointed out typographical and formatting questions about four documents as they considered the possibility that they were forged. The widow of the National Guard officer whose signature is on the bottom of the documents also disputed their authenticity.

It was here that CBS began to stonewall investigators:

CBS spokeswoman Kelli Edwards declined to respond to questions raised by experts who examined copies of the papers at the request of The Washington Post, or to provide the names of the experts CBS consulted.

Why not name the experts? Why did it take CBS an entire week to provide the names of those it consulted? What valid reaons could CBS have in not identifying those who identified their documents? CBS has never said. Their behavior here was a brazen and conspicuous flouting of elementary considerations of transparency. Compare this with the Washington Post, which named and provided at least some background for two of their experts.

The Washington Post goes on to provide another remarkable claim by CBS:

CBS officials insisted that the network had done due diligence in checking out the authenticity of the documents with independent experts over six weeks. The senior CBS official said the network had talked to four typewriting and handwriting experts "who put our concerns to rest" and confirmed the authenticity of Killian's signature.

Now, this isn't a direct quote but, if true, it seems to be at the very least misleading given later revelations. By CBS's own claim, two of the experts were "peripheral" to the investigation. However, on the day after the 60 Minutes II report, they didn't seem too peripheral to mention to the Washington Post. Furthermore, at least three of the experts now claim they did not authenticate the documents. CBS claims they are mispresenting their discussions with CBS.

We do know that CBS was being misleading when they said the experts authenticated the "documents" as opposed to authenticating only photocopies of the documents. You might think that was worth mentioning.

Interestingly, three of the experts have been willing to talk directly to the press about what they told CBS. No individual from CBS who spoke to the experts has come forward to dispute the claims in person, or to provide a detailed accounting of what the two "peripheral" experts told CBS.

Call me suspicious, but I think CBS should provide more information about the "six weeks" claim given that statements from some of the experts disputing CBS's claims about them indicate that CBS did not involve experts for the entire six weeks claim.

CBS, in a statement Thursday afternoon, said it stands by the story. The network claims that its own document expert concluded the memos were authentic. There are several things CBS could do to clear up any confusion:

(1) Provide the name of the expert who authenticated the documents for Sixty Minutes.

(2) Provide the original documents to outside experts--William Flynn, Gerald Reynolds, and Peter Tytell seem to be the consensus top three in the United States--for further analysis.

(3) Provide more information on the source of the documents.

(A spokeswoman for CBS, Kelly Edwards, said she was overwhelmed with phone calls and did not respond to specific requests for comment.)

The recommendations were, of course, ignored.

Friday, September 10th

MSNBC reports that CBS calls their source for the documents, "unimpeachable" (CBS stands by documents on Bush’s Guard service). Well, I guess we will have to see, now won't we? However, if it turns out that the documents are falsified, this will have been shown to be quite the overblown claim.

Blog O'Ram begins maintaing a list of experts named in various news stories who question or support the authenticity of the documents (A Scorecard). Perhaps someone at CBS might have thought to consider something like this. We will see later how CBS chooses additional experts to examine the documents.

Dan Rather himself responds to the criticism's during the broadcast of that evening's CBS Evening News in a particularly unprincipled way. Of course, I doubt it likely that he writes his material entirely alone or without review of an editor. There are other individuals at CBS News responsible for this debacle. Furthermore, having broadcast this report, failing to reconsider or correct the same broadens responsibility for this unprincipled broadcast even further. CBS News' vaunted ethics are seriously challenged here.

Let us go to the transcript, as provided by KerrySpot on the National Review (This is a Defense?). I've removed and borrowed from many of Jim Geraghty's excellent annotations of the transcript to make my own points. Read his as well. Some people may consider some of my comments nit-picky, but when your journalistic integrity is being challenged, one would expect you to pick a few nits defending yourself. One shouldn't defend shoddy reporting with more shoddiness.

RATHER, anchor:

There were attacks today on the CBS News 60 Minutes report this week, raising questions about President Bush's Vietnam era time in the Texas Air National Guard. The questions included in our report were: Did a wealthy Texas oilman, friend of the Bush family, use his influence with the then speaker of the Texas House of Representatives to get George W. Bush a coveted slot in the National Guard, keeping him out of the draft and in the probable service in Vietnam? Did Lieutenant Bush refuse a direct order from his commanding officer? Was Lieutenant Bush suspended for failure to perform up to Air Force standards? Did Lieutenant Bush ever take a physical he was required and ordered to take? If not, why not? And did Lieutenant Bush, in fact, complete his commitment to the Guard?

This appears to be the beginning of the answer-a-question-with-a-question-game. A tactic that CBS continues to use to divert attention from the concerns its own behavior and the evidence has raised. One might have excused it if this was the only example, but it has become a mainstay of CBS's rhetorical arsenal, limited as that arsenal may be.

This is clearly and even explicitly meant to distract attention from the very serious questions being raised about the CBS documents. Is this proper behavior for a news organization? Politicians and others may use this tactic to distract questioners and avoid giving a direct answer. Wouldn't it have been much more appropriate for CBS to simply say they reported about certain allegations and then move directly into answering the questions that had been raised? When will other news organizations tell CBS that this is really not acceptable behavior when your evidence is being questioned?

These questions grew out of new witnesses and new evidence, including documents written by Lieutenant Bush's squadron commander.

As Geraghty puts it, "This would be a fine place to use the word 'allegedly.'"

Today on the Internet and elsewhere,

Again, from Geraghty, "Where is elsewhere? Would this be the Washington Post or ABC News you're referring to?" Indeed. To many people, the "Internet" (with some justification) means an arena where wild and unsubstantiated allegations roam free. Why did CBS not mention the very prominent and respected organization bringing the questions. One might think this was inadvertant, perhaps, until you consider the rest of the statement.

some people, including many who are partisan political operatives,

Motivation is frequently a valid element in judging claims that are subjective. However, most of the criticisms of the documents, particularly the typographical evidence is fairly objective in nature. How important is motivation regarding these claims? Furthermore, this also casts aspersions on the reporting of other news organizations without any basis. Is this journalistic ethics?

concentrated not on the key questions of the overall story, but on the documents that were part of the support of the story.

The answer-a-question-with-a-question-game continues (to this day). The documents were clearly an important and central part of the story when broadcast. Whether these documents are authentic is a key question of the overall story. If Dan Rather and CBS News cannot see that, at some point, their blindness crosses the line into either professionally incompetent or unethical behavior.

They allege that the documents are fake.

"They," the mysterious "they." A confident (did I almost write "competent"?) news organization might have said "Experts allege" or something similar. Shouldn't a news organization confront challenges directly, rather than use rhetorical tricks to undermine the case for their critics? It would seem that CBS News was acting more as an advocate than an objective seeker of truth. If there is anything less "journalistic" than acting as an advocate for a particular position, I don't know what it is. Lawyers are supposed to be advocates. Journalists are supposed to seek something close to the truth.

Those raising questions about the CBS documents have focused on something called superscript, a key that automatically types a raised 'th.' Critics claim typewriters didn't have that ability in the 1970s, but some models did.

"Those raising questions," the mysterious tribe of "those." Will CBS ever dignify its critics by referring to them with anything other than a pronoun or partisan label?

Of course, the superscripting claim was only one of many. Furthermore, only the least sophisticated critics were still arguing that there were no ligature "th"s by Friday morning. In fact, most of the experts were arguing that it was uncommon, especially considering that this ligature was "superscripted", that is, printed immediately next to and slightly above another character.

More importantly, this ignores the argument that all the experts were making, that this was remarkably consistent with the output of a wordprocessing program. Indeed, many consider the most compelling demonstration of this the "smoking memo," which had been made available the day before on LittleGreenFootballs. Could it possibly be that CBS didn't notice this? Now it might be that somethings just can't make the cut in the limited time of 30-minute news show. However, isn't there any obligation to provide your critics strongest arguments?

In fact, other Bush military records already officially released by the White House itself, show the same superscript. Here's one from 1968.

Uh, no it doesn't. Anyone looking at the two documents will clearly see that ligature isn't anything like the ligature in the disputed memos. See the original on page three of this document: Miscellaneous Bush National Guard Documents [PDF].

First, it isn't superscripted. Like the vast majority of ligatures on typewriters it prints inline with the other characters. Second, it is clearly a different typeface. It is monospaced for gosh sakes.

Incompetent, blind, and/or unethical? You be the judge.

Some analysts outside CBS say they believe the typeface on these memos is New Times Roman, which they claim was not available in the 1970s. But the owner of the company that distributes this typing style says it has been available since 1931.

Geraghty says it well, "Yes, for printing books. Was New Times Roman available for typewriters for that era? Again, if it was, it was highly uncommon. And why has no other document from Bush's records from that era been printed in that font? And has anyone found any other document written in than font, by Killian, relating to anything else but Bush?" Indeed. At least they refer to "analysts."

Incompetent and/or unethical? You be the judge.

Document and handwriting examiner Marcel Matley analyzed the documents for CBS News. He says he believes they are real, but he is concerned about exactly what is being examined by some of the people now questioning the documents.

Actually, Matley didn't analyze the documents, only photocopies of the documents. A minor, but critical point - as even Matley acknowledges that it is impossible to conclusively authenticate a signature from a photocopy, but that it is possible to falsify it.

Strangely, Matley now claims that he didn't analyze the "documents," but only a single signature. Indeed, his speciality is handwriting, not typeface identification. Is CBS lying or Matley? There are people who claim that everyone else is lying, but they aren't. We generally call these people "liars."

And how nice that Matley expresses his concern about what "people" (aka document authentication experts hired by other news organizations) are examining.

Because deterioration occurs each time a document is reproduced and the documents being analyzed outside of CBS have been photocopied, faxed, scanned, and downloaded, and are far removed from the documents CBS started with, which were also photocopies.

Nice of CBS to mention that. They didn't mention it on Wednesday during the first report or, more importantly, when questioned on Thursday.

They might have also mentioned that if all you have is a photocopy that makes it impossible to conclusively authenticate a document based on analysis of the document alone.

Of course, this claim is absolutely shameless. The only reason that other experts were not analyzing pristine copies is because CBS had not made them available. Give me a break! Is this even a close ethical call or a gross violation?

Document and handwriting examiner Marcel Matley did this interview with us prior to the 60 Minutes broadcast. He looked at the documents and the signatures of Colonel Jerry Killian, comparing known documents with the colonel's signature on the newly discovered ones.

Mr. MARCEL MATLEY (document and handwriting expert): We look, basically, at what's called significant or insignificant features to determine whether it's the same person or not. See I have no problem identifying them. I would say, based on our available handwriting evidence, yes, this is the same person.

Of course, Matley now claims that he only authenticated a single signature. Indeed, CBS itself has put on its website a letter from Matley attesting to this claim without a disclaimer that it is misleading or a lie (Letter to 60 Minutes Wednesday from Marcel Matley [PDF]). I guess this would mean that CBS News' defense was the misleading claim.

RATHER: Matley finds the signatures to be some of the most compelling evidence.

They were the only evidence Matley considered.

Incompetent or unethical? You decide.

We talked to him again today by satellite.

Are you surprised that questions come about these? We're not.....but I wondered if you were surprised.

If CBS wasn't surprised, then that means they knew they would have to be especially careful in authenticating these documents. It also means that they should have been prepared to answer questions. Interestingly, neither appears to be the case.

Incompetent or unethical? You decide.

Mr. MATLEY: I knew going in that this was dynamite one way or the other, and I knew that potentially it was far more potential damage to me professionally than benefit to me, and I knew that. And — but we seek the truth, that's what we do. And, you know, you're supposed to put yourself out to seek the truth and take what comes from it.

Once again, Geraghty hits it on the head: "Poor Matley. Oddly, instead of asking Matley to explain in greater detail why he thinks the documents are genuine — to address the criticism head-on — Rather asks him whether he is surprised that some people question the validity of the documents. And Matley is lamenting that his work for CBS in this could do potential damage to him professionally. This exchange is almost a non sequitur." Indeed. Ignoring the question on point. Is this what passes for journalism nowadays?

Incompetent or unethical? You decide.

RATHER: Robert Strong was an administrative officer for the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam years. He knew Colonel Jerry Killian, the man credited with writing the documents. And paperwork, like these documents, was his specialty. He is standing by his judgment that the documents are real.

When you read through these documents, is there any doubt in your mind that these are genuine?

Mr. ROBERT STRONG (former administrator, Texas Air National Guard): Well, they are compatible with the way business was done at that time. They are compatible with the man that I remember Jerry Killian being. I don't see anything in the documents that are discordant with what were the times, what were the situation and what were the people that were involved.

RATHER: Strong says the highly charged political atmosphere of the Guard at the time was perfectly represented in the newly revealed documents.

Mr. STRONG: It verged on outright corruption in terms of the favors that were done, the power that was traded, and it was unconscionable. From a moral and ethical standpoint, it was unconscionable.

Geraghty again, "This is a nice supporting witness contending that it is possible Killian would write this memo. It would be nice if he addressed the claims that Killian didn't type and didn't keep memos at home, and spoke to whether the document looks like any other document generated in a National Guard office in the early 1970s."

RATHER: It is the information in the new documents that is most compelling for people familiar with President Bush's record in the National Guard. Author Jim Moore has written two books critical of President Bush and his service in the Guard.

Mr. JIM MOORE (Author): So there's no doubt in my mind that these documents are stating accurately what we know took place from the records that are available.

One supporting witness to the documents is probably okay. However, the vast majority of criticism of the documents, certainly on Thursday and Friday had to do with technical details regarding the type and etc. Wouldn't it have made more sense to put on another technical expert, perhaps the one non-peripheral expert CBS also relied on?

Furthermore, there are a number of Killian's contemporaries, including his wife and son who dispute the story. Are they not as credible as Moore? Or were they unavailable for the show?

Incompetent or unethical? You decide.

RATHER: Put it in context and perspective for us, the story and the — what we'll call the counterattack on the story. Where are we right now?

Well, to have a counterattack you have to have an attack in the first place. CBS News seems to be making an admission here that the original story was an attack. Is journalism supposed to be about attacks?

Furthermore, when people question your evidence, is it really fair to characterize that as an "attack"? And, moreover, even if it was a "counterattack," it wasn't on the story but on the evidence for the story. There is a crucial difference there. One the CBS News doesn't seem to grasp.

Incompetent or unethical? You decide.

Mr. MOORE: Well, I think what has happened is that some incriminating documents have come out. The White House, I should — you should remember, has not discredited the documents.

Geraghty, "So what? How on earth would the White House know whether or not Killian kept personal documents?"

This is also one of the earlier examples of CBS News attempting to shift the burden of proof and play the answer-a-question-with-a-question-game. Go question the White House, CBS News is saying, don't question us.

RATHER: The 60 Minutes report was based not solely on the recovered documents, but on a preponderance of evidence, including documents that were provided by what we consider to be solid sources, and interviews with former officials of the Texas National Guard. If any definitive evidence to the contrary of our story is found, we will report it. So far there is none.

Preponderance vs. definitive. Double-standards, a mainstay of journalistic ethics courses it would seem.

As far as there being no "definitive" evidence ...... Incompetent or unethical? You be the judge.

"Until someone shows me definitive proof that they are not, I don't see any reason to carry on a conversation with the professional rumor mill," the CBS anchor said. "My colleagues and I at '60 Minutes' made great efforts to authenticate these documents and to corroborate the story as best we could. . . . I think the public is smart enough to see from whom some of this criticism is coming and draw judgments about what the motivations are."

Way to approach the issue with an open, inquiring, journalistic mind. Several responsible news organizations, many certified experts, and some excellent logic is "the professonal rumor mill." Furthermore, he implies the criticims should be judged based on their motivations. Here is a clue: the motivation is getting at the truth, something journalists are supposed to do. No question, this is clearly incompetency.

A new bit of information:

Rather said that CBS's lead expert was Marcel Matley of San Francisco, a member of the National Association of Document Examiners who has taught, lectured and written about his field, testified in numerous trials, and consulted for government agencies. Matley said last night that a "60 Minutes" executive had asked him not to give interviews.

Huh? Yet another flagrant, blatant example of what journalists are not supposed to do. Will someone please explain the concept of "journalism" to the "60 Minutes" executives? Thank you.

Beyond that, Rather said, CBS consulted with military experts about Killian's language and the documents' format and compared them to other Bush service records previously released by the White House. "We decided there was a preponderance of evidence that they are what they purport to be," he said.

Yet more anonymous experts whose names have yet to be released. Sure would be nice if someone independent of CBS was allowed to talk to them, especially given the concerns over military language and format raised in the recent Knox interview.

Although many others helped report and corroborate the story, Rather said, "I'm of the school, my name is on it, I'm responsible."

That is good to know. One wonders what "school" casts aspersions on critics, refuses to name experts, witholds high-quality copies, and engages in advocacy as opposed to objective reporting when legitimate criticism is raised.

The LA Times article continues:

A CBS official who spoke on condition of anonymity said that the network had two other document experts [other than Matley], who CBS did not identify, examine the documents, which were copies of the originals.

The experts studied the type font or style, spacing and other variables and deemed the memos legitimate, said the official.

Two? I thought there turns out only to be one. After all weren't two of the other three CBS has named "peripheral"? And, of course, this complete ignores the fact that two of three have said they didn't authenticate.

Because of an editing error, the headline on a Page One story Saturday on whether documents released by CBS News about President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service are genuine ("Authenticity backed on Bush documents") did not accurately reflect the content of the story. The story quoted one analyst saying that the documents could have been produced on typewriters available in the early 1970s, but the analyst did not vouch for the authenticity of the documents. A second analyst quoted in the story said he doubts the documents are authentic.

However, this will not prevent CBS from making a similar "editing" error in their Saturday Evening broadcast:

RUSS MITCHELL, CBS ANCHOR: This week, a "60 MINUTES" report raised new questions about President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard some 30 years ago. Among them: Did then Lt. Bush receive preferential treatment to get into the National Guard and out of possible service in Vietnam? Did he refuse a direct order from a commanding officer? Did he ever take a required physical exam? And did he complete his commitment to the Guard? The questions grew out of interviews with new witnesses and four documents obtained by CBS News, written by then Lt. Bush's squadron commander. The documents were authenticated for CBS News by outside experts.

The answer-a-question-with-a-question-game continues, and CBS has still not revealed who these experts are except for Matley.

On the Internet and elsewhere, some are have questioned the documents' authenticity, focusing on the type styles of the, suggesting the memos are fake. Today one document expert, Philip Bouffard, who had expressed suspicions about the documents, told the "Boston Globe" and CBS News that he now believes the documents could have been prepared on an IBM Selectric Composer typewriter, available at the time.

Hmmmm ... "who had expressed suspicions"? As if his suspicions were all in the past? Bouffard was not at all suspicious? Fantastic!

Of course, one wonders why Bouffard hasn't been subsequently touted by CBS. Perhaps his suspicions have mysteriously returned?

Interestingly, Bouffard did not have access to the original photocopies that CBS had. The day before, CBS had expressed concern with experts using documents that had been "been photocopied, faxed, scanned, and downloaded, and are far removed from the documents CBS started with." Yet, when Bouffard lends the slightest support to CBS's position, suddenly, that isn't a concern anymore.

And, most certainly, CBS's report lacks any nuance. Even if it were possible that the documents were created by an IBM Selectric Composer, is it at all likely that such a machine would have been used for personal memos? CBS doesn't address this widespread criticism at all.

Also, strangely, CBS actually mentioned the Boston Globe by name, which lent further credence to their position. Apparently, CBS didn't have time to mention any of the news organizations that detract from CBS's report by name.

Finally, this seems to be the point when CBS begins cherry picking experts that support its position and essentially ignoring those who don't. CBS's motto seems to be "Conclusion First, Expert Second." Rather than seek out neutral experts, CBS relies only on those who already support CBS's position.

Incompetent or unethical? You be the judge.

Also today, there are reports that retired National Guard Maj. Gen. Bobby W. Hodges, one of the sources corroborating the CBS News account, now says he believes the documents were not real, in part because of recent statements of relatives of Jerry Killian, the squadron commander credited with writing the memos.

CBS News responded today: We believe Gen. Hodges the first time we spoke with him. We believe the documents to be genuine. We stand by our story and will continue to report on it.

The White House continues to say that President Bush served honorably, and that the memos surfaced as part of - quote - "an orchestrated effort by Democrats and the Kerry campaign to tear down the president" - end quote.

Sunday, September 12th

The Washington Post does a story on Bush's National Guard service or lack thereof (Gaps in Service Continue to Dog Bush). There is an interesting new bit of information about a claim CBS made on Thursday:

A CBS spokeswoman, Sandy Genelius, said the network "believed General Hodges the first time we talked to him." She said CBS continued to "stand by its story" and a statement it issued on Thursday saying that "60 Minutes" reporters had talked to "individuals who had seen the documents at the time they were written." She declined to name the "individuals," describing them as sources.

So, not only are there at least two "individuals" who saw the documents when they were written, they are "sources."

Rather, who was the correspondent, says, “Document analysis isn’t a pure science. It’s not fingerprints or DNA. It’s a very crude art. You have one expert testifying one thing and one another.”

Well, it would be pretty close, if you had the originals. I bet it wouldn't be more than a day or two to determine authenticity if you had the originals, if that.

Nevertheless, this is the beginning of CBS's claim of a battle of the experts. A "we may never know" stance. One might think CBS would put together a blue ribbon panel of experts with the help of some other news organizations and provide high quality copies of the documents. One might think that.

Monday, September 13th

William Safire's column in the NY Times calls on CBS to conduct an internal investigation (Those Discredited Memos). CBS ignores call.

Any news organization broadcasting or publishing potentially highly charged reports - particularly in an election year - must make sure the information is accurate and that the public understands why it can be believed, said experienced reporters. [emphasis added]

Once again, unless by "several" you mean "two," CBS is claiming validation by more experts then they actually had, unless you also count "peripheral" experts:

According to Genelius, CBS stands by the story. The network interviewed "several" handwriting and documents experts on the record to ensure the memos' validity before last Wednesday's broadcast. None was interviewed in the Wednesday report. One was described on air to viewers - but not until last Friday when Rather was defending the network.

The authenticity of the memos is defended once again, quite vigorously on the CBS Evening News

DAN RATHER, CBS ANCHOR: Besides reporting on Senator John Kerry's Vietnam service record, CBS news has been checking President Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard, including whether he did or did not fulfill his commitment. CBS News is continuing to report the story, gathering information, asking questions and probing. CBS is also addressing questions about documents used to corroborate some of the information in our reporting. Some of these questions come from people who are not active political partisans. It's tonight's "Inside Story." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Finally, CBS concedes that some of the criticisms come from disinterested and non-partisan sources. One might ask, however, why it took so long.

RATHER (voice-over): At a Democratic National Committee press conference today, the shots being fired by some retired military men were aimed directly at President Bush's National Guard service.

GEN. MERRILL MCPEAK (RET.): But official records show that he skipped a physical and was grounded. You know how hard it is to forget your annual flying physical? I took 37 of them in a row.

RATHER: There has also been criticism of the new documents obtained by "60 Minutes" and CBS News, but CBS used several techniques to make sure these papers should be taken seriously, talking to handwriting and document analysts and other experts who strongly insist that the documents could have been created in the '70s.

Once again, here was an excellent opportunity to for CBS to name its experts. Don't forget, CBS has also claimed to have checked with military language and formatting experts who, as yet, remain unnamed.

BILL GLENNON: Everything that's in those documents that people are saying can't be done, as you said, 32 years ago, is just totally false. Not true. Like I said, proportional spacing was available, superscripts was available as a custom feature, proportional spacing between lines was available. You could order that any way you like.

Where did this "expert" come from? Could it be that CBS was "expert shopping" once again? Conclusion First, Expert Second? Given the numerous certified document examiners available, CBS had to rely on a former typewriter repairman?

Note, especially, this article from the Washington Post regarding this "expert" (Expert Cited by CBS Says He Didn't Authenticate Papers): "But Glennon said he is not a document expert, could not vouch for the memos' authenticity and only examined them online because CBS did not give him copies when asked to visit the network's offices."

This is very odd. On Friday, CBS was claiming that one should be careful about making pronouncements about authenticity without access to the pristine photocopies that CBS was holding onto. Indeed, that very day, CBS claimed that they believed they had first-generation copies, according to reporting by the Chicago Tribune (Laura Bush says papers likely forged): "CBS spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said Monday that the network possesses what it believes to be so-called 'first generation' copies, duplicated directly from the original documents."

Finally, since Glennon didn't (and couldn't) authenticate the documents, isn't it a bit misleading to feature him merely saying that similar documents could have been made without any qualification?

Incompetence or unethical? You decide.

RATHER: Richard Katz, a software designer, found some other indications in the documents. He noted that the lowercase letter "l" is used for the numeral "1" in those documents instead of the actual numeral one. That would be difficult to reproduce on the computer printer today.

RICHARD KATZ, SOFTWARE DESIGNER: If you were doing this a week ago or a month ago on a normal laser jet printer, it wouldn't work. You just couldn't. The font wouldn't be available to you.

RATHER: Katz also noted that the documents have both the so-called superscript "th" and a regular-sized "th." That would be common on a typewriter, not a computer.

KATZ: There is one document from May of 1972 which contains a normal "th" at the top. To produce that in Microsoft Word, you would have to go out of your way to type the letters and then turn the "th" setting off or back over them, and type them again.

Yet another "expert." How did CBS find Katz? According to the New York Times, Katz called his local CBS affiliate after looking at the memos on the website (CBS Offers New Experts to Support Guard Memos). Once again, we have an "expert" making judgements based on poor quality copies. Perhaps there is some internal logic here, you can authenticate with poor copies, but you can't criticize. That seems to be CBS's logic.

One also has to ask how CBS checked Katz's credentials. At least Glennon has some remotely plausible credentials. Katz is a "computer software expert," yet he believes it is difficult to use "l" for "1" and use the undo button. I mean, really.

Incompetence or unethical? It's up to you.

RATHER: CBS News also relied on an analysis of the contents of the documents themselves, to determine the content's authenticity. The new papers are in line with what is known about the president's service assignments and dates.

For instance, the official record shows that Mr. Bush was suspended from flying on August 1, 1972. That date matches the one on a memo given to CBS News, ordering Mr. Bush be suspended.

Perhaps one might want to note that content analysis can only falsify, if the content is already public knowledge. Might be an important caveat.

Shortly after "60 Minutes" broadcast the new documents last week, "USA Today" obtained another new document. In the memo dated February 2, 1972, Colonel Killian asked to be "updated as soon as possible on flight certifications, specifically Bush." That could be in line with what documents released by the White House last week show, that in the spring of 1972 then Lieutenant Bush stopped exclusively flying the F-102, and dropped back to piloting a training plane, part of an effort to maintain his flight certification.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RATHER: CBS News asked the White House today to give direct answers to a number of questions. Did a friend of the Bush family use his influence with the then Texas House speaker to get George W. Bush into the National Guard? Did Lieutenant Bush refuse an order to take a required physical? Was he suspended for failing to perform up to standards? And did he complete his commitment to the Guard?

In reply, a White House spokesman told CBS News today, "as you know, we have repeatedly addressed these issues."

These direct questions have not been fully, completely answered. The White House and the Bush-Cheney campaign always point out President Bush received an honorable discharge.

What's in the "60 Minutes" report CBS News believes to be true and believes the documents are authentic.

The Washington Post story that explored Glennon's expert testimony a little more deeply than CBS News, also had another statement from a CBS spokesperson:

Asked about Matley's comments [that he couldn't authenticate the documents], CBS spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said: "In the end, the gist is that it's inconclusive. People are coming down on both sides, which is to be expected when you're dealing with copies of documents."

Huh? You expect this sort of spin from a politician's aides, but from a news organization? I thought journalists were supposed to cut through the spin, not create it.

Matley was one of CBS's experts, who they had touted on Friday's evening news. Shouldn't CBS News have expressed a little more concern that one of their primary sources was essentially recanting?

Furthermore, we once again see CBS retreating into a "he said/she said" defense. Experts on both sides or the argument? If that were true, why was CBS using the likes of Glennon and Katz to defend them? What happened to Bouffard, who CBS cited on Saturday night?

And then there is this:

Matley said he spent five to eight hours examining the memos. "I knew I could not prove them authentic just from my expertise," he said. "I can't say either way from my expertise, the narrow, narrow little field of my expertise."

That's pretty small expertise.

More importantly, recall that on Thursday, this was reported by the Washington Post:

CBS officials insisted that the network had done due diligence in checking out the authenticity of the documents with independent experts over six weeks.

The other experts who were "peripheral" probably didn't spend too much time with the documents either. I guess the third expert, James J. Pierce, must account for the other 5 weeks and 6 days.

"CBS News did not rely on either Emily Will or Linda James for a final assessment of the documents regarding George Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard. Ms. Will and Ms. James were among a group of experts we consulted to assess one of the four documents used in the report and they did not render definitive judgment on that document. Ultimately, they played a peripheral role and deferred to another expert who examined all four of the documents used," the network said in a statement.

"Most importantly, the content of the documents was backed up by our reporting and our sources who knew the thoughts and behavior of Lt. Col. Jerry Killian at the time," the statement said.

It is important to note that CBS never released the names of Miss Will and Miss James. It required reporting by ABC News. Note also, that CBS didn't name any of the other members of the "group of experts." Finally, note that this description of the process of authenticating seems wildly in variance with the claims about experts made prior to this.

I'm not really sure you there is any other word for CBS conduct with regard to its "expert" authentication than unethical.

In any case, while ABC News was ripping CBS's defenses apart, the CBS Evening News had very little to say on the subject.

ROBERTS: The president has yet to weigh in on new documents about his National Guard record made public last week by 60 minutes. But in a radio interview, First Lady Laura Bush became the first White House insider to publicly doubt their authenticity.

LAURA BUSH (From radio interview): You know, they probably are altered and they probably are forgeries.

ROBERTS: However, Laura Bush offered no evidence to back up her claim...and CBS News continues to stand by its reporting.

CBS News must have gotten a new shipment of "howevers" Tuesday morning, because they apparently were all out on Monday. They could have said things like "Glennon claims typewriters of the era could make similar memos, however, he can't authenticate the documents." Or, "Katz claims to be able to note the subtle distinction between a "1" and an "l", however, he has only examined muddied copies off the internet, which we have previously claimed are not suitable for analysis."

More interestingly, the LA Times also gets an interview with Rather and CBS News Chief Heyward (Rather Rides Out Latest Partisan Storm). In the interview, Rather plays the answer-a-question-with-a-question-game and, once again, misses the irony and hypocrisy:

Facing questions it didn't want to answer, the vice president's [George H. W. Bush] "political apparatus understandably, out of necessity, chose to question the questioner," Rather said. Likewise, he said, his critics are "people who for their own partisan, political agendas can't deny the core truth of this story … and want to change the subject and make the story about me rather than have the story be about the unanswered questions about President Bush's military service."

Of course, it is all about you, Dan. Couldn't possibly be about the authenticity of the memos. This leaves me wondering if narcisstic paranoia makes for proper journalism.

A prominent academic disagrees with Rather and CBS News' take on why the authenticity of the memos is being questioned:

Outside the network, supporters of Rather also want more information. Credible rival news organizations, not just "a bunch of Republican hacks," are raising questions, said Alex Jones, director of Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.

"Dan Rather is an honorable, ethical journalist with very high standards, and if he says the documents are real, I am personally inclined to believe him," Jones said. "But if he wants the world to believe him, then there is probably going to have to be more information."

On the other hand, CBS News Chief Andrew Heyward thinks CBS News had already gone above and beyond in the transparency department:

"I think we've gone out of our way to reveal more of the process than most journalists do," Heyward said. "We're going to have to take the criticism."

If CBS's actions to this point were exceptional transparency, I'd hate to see what real stonewalling looks like.

CBS News Senior Vice President Betsy West said last night: "As far as I know, Linda James raised no objections. She said she'd have to see more documents to render a judgment."

As for Will's account, West said: "I'm not aware of any substantive objection she raised. Emily Will did not urge us to hold the story. She was not adamant in any way. At one point she raised a concern about a superscript 'th,' which we then discussed with the other experts we hired to examine all four of the documents we aired. We were assured the 'th' was consistent with technology at the time, an assessment that has since been backed up by other experts."

CBS spokeswoman Sandy Genelius added that both women "played a peripheral role and deferred to another expert," Matley. But James said she did not defer to Matley and merely recommended him to CBS. The network says it relied on two additional document experts, whose names have not been made public.

So, we have CBS calling its own experts liars. Okay.

There is also a hint of the "he said/she said" experts will disagree defense ... after all the 'th' is consistent with technology of the time. As if that settles the matter.

More interestingly, CBS News has revealed the name of only one more document expert, James J. Pierce. As of this writing, apparently, there is one more secret, anonymous document expert that CBS has used. Why has CBS not named them? Especially given that CBS has acknowledged there may be problems with the documents.

Incompetent or unethical? Your call.

Then there's this:

CBS began to doubt Will because she started expanding her role and doing Google searches about Bush's whereabouts at the time, said an executive who insisted on anonymity because the network did not want to go beyond the official statements. But Will said she was merely doing research into whether superscript existed in 1972.

It'll be interesting to see if anyone at CBS has any documentation to back up this claim, or whether an anonymous source was merely casting aspersions.

"I think the public, even decent people who may be well-disposed toward President Bush, understand that powerful and extremely well-financed forces are concentrating on questions about the documents because they can’t deny the fundamental truth of the story," he said. "If you can’t deny the information, then attack and seek to destroy the credibility of the messenger, the bearer of the information. And in this case, it’s change the subject from the truth of the information to the truth of the documents.

It is becoming quite clear that CBS News is an irony-free zone. In any case, this is really the key element of the interview with regard to Rather's unsuitability to remain a journalist for a major news organization. Not only does he ignore valid and credible concerns that undermine his "reporting," he attacks his critics as partisan dupes. This is clear evidence that Rather is no longer able to weigh evidence objectively.

That [the difficulty of authenticating documents] was why, he said, half of the experts agreed and the other half didn’t. That supposed stalemate left nothing but the truth at the center of the documents.

I really have no idea how a journalist can honestly believe that there is a fifty-fifty split among experts over the validity of the documents, given the difficulty CBS has apparently had in finding experts to support their position. And, even if there were such a split, why that should default to the "truth" of the documents is beyond me. What sort of journalistic standards are these?

Four independent individuals with expertise in the authentication of documents were consulted prior to the broadcast of the story regarding the documents 60 MINUTES Wednesday obtained: document examiners Marcel B. Matley, James J. Pierce, Emily Will and Linda James.

This would seem to conflict with the statment CBS News made to the Washington Post for their article published earlier today, claiming that there were two remaining unnamed document verifiers.

As CBS News has publicly stated, the documents used in the report were photocopies of originals.

CBS noted this on Friday, after there was substantial criticism. And, where are the "pristine" copies CBS claimed to have? The one generation copies?

Two of the examiners, Mssrs. Matley and Pierce, attested and continue to attest to their belief in the documents' authenticity. (see attachments 1 and 2)

Um, really? Because that doesn't seem to be what Matley has been saying to all sorts of rival news organizations. Indeed, even in the report that CBS provides from Matley, it is pretty clear: Re: Killian Signatures; My File Ref. 04093-A [PDF]

Therefore, the preponderance of the available handwriting evidence is that one writer made all signatures examined.

Doesn't seem quite the same thing as "authentication."

On the CBS Evening News, the questions were addressed once again.

DAN RATHER, CBS ANCHOR: CBS News, "60 Minutes" and this reporter drew fire today over our reports that raised questions about President Bush's military service record, including whether he followed orders and whether he fulfilled his obligations to the National Guard. CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports on the latest attack on the "60 Minutes" story and the CBS News response. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Once again, legitimate questions are characterized as drawing "fire" and a presumably illegitimate "attack." Presumably, CBS News would consider it fair to describe its critical reporting on other subjects as "attacks." Oops, the paragraph above makes it clear that CBS News has "raised questions" about President Bush, whereas those who raise questions about CBS News' reports are "attacking" CBS.

WYATT ANDREWS, CBS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Congressional Republicans turned the high heat on CBS News, charging that last week's revelations about Lieutenant George Bush, which aired on "60 Minutes," were based on fake documents, and demanding that "60 Minutes" and Dan Rather retract the story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's very clear the documents were forged. They were laid on him, and this time he bit.

ANDREWS: Forty members of the House signed this letter, accusing the network of deception, asking CBS if the documents are authentic, why won't the network say how it got them?

REP. ROY BLUNT (R), MISSOURI: Well, I think at the very least CBS should characterize the source. I think it's amazing that they haven't already done that.

ANDREWS: The dispute surrounds memoranda "60 Minutes" says came from the personal file of Lieutenant Bush's Air National Guard commander, Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Killian, memos that accuse Mr. Bush of disobeying an order and of using connections to have Killian "sugarcoat" Mr. Bush's record. However, some experts doubt the authenticity of those memos.

Although experts had been doubting the authenticity of the memos from the first day after they original broadcast (and before, if you count CBS's own experts), this is the first time CBS acknowledges the credentials of those who have sought answers from CBS.

KNOX: Killian was very friendly with Bush. They had fun together. And I think it upset him very much that he was being defied.

CBS News has interviewed Killian's secretary, something they had apparently never done in the preparation of the original broadcast, despite the producer, Mary Mapes, having followed the story for five years and "has a vast and detailed knowledge of the issues surrounding President Bush's service in the Guard and of the individuals involved in the story." Emphasis added.

CBS officials appeared jubilant over Knox's revelations. "While we do not believe that she is a documents expert," CBS spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said, "it is exceptionally noteworthy that she supports the content of our story." [emphasis added]

One might wonder why CBS is interviewing someone about the authenticity of the documents, given that CBS News does "not not believe ... [she] is a documents expert." Of course, not being a documents expert didn't stop CBS from interviewing Glennon and Katz.

One might wonder what distinguishes Miss Knox's claims from the claims of the other experts, who CBS News has yet to explicitly acknowledge are valid?

ANDREWS: CBS News officials say the memos came from a confidential source, and that they are certain the content of the story is true.

This is another version of the story is true, but the evidence may be false. What sort of news organization consistently makes these sorts of claims? In what moral universe do members of the press argue that the content of story is true, though key evidence has been falsified?

ANDREW HEYWARD, PRESIDENT, CBS NEWS: We would not have put the report on the air if we did not believe in every aspect of it.

ANDREWS: But News President Andrew Heyward also says the network will try to resolve what he calls the "unresolved issues."

HEYWARD: Enough questions have been raised that we are going to redouble our efforts to answer those questions.

What questions would those be? What efforts are being redoubled? Shouldn't a news organization be a little more direct regarding issues "attacking" its credibility? Would CBS News accept such vague answers from a corporation accused of providing false documentation?

ANDREWS (on camera): Some at this network believe the backlash against the "60 Minutes" report is pure politics. But that's the critics' point as well, that fake or real, the fact that "60 Minutes" got these documents during an election year was no accident.

And the purpose of reporting the unsubstantiated beliefs of those at the network is? And is "backlash" really an appropriate term to describe legitmate criticism? Finally, some critics have charged that "60 Minutes" receipt of the documents during an election year was no accident. Of course, "60 Minutes" probably has a pretty good clue as to whether that claim is accurate or not. Perhaps, having raised the issue, CBS News might have made a claim that their "unimpeachable" source is nonpartisan or unbiased or even a supporter of President Bush or something. Just saying.

Thus endeth my recounting of CBS News foray for now. There will likely be many updates.

It seems to me that the analysis here is solely focused on the "authenticity" of the documents -- that is, whether they came from and were contemporaneously made by the purported author -- rather than their accuracy -- that is, whether they reflect the state of mind and perceptions of the author at their time. Is that right?

I think it would be erroneous to assert that CBS is rigidly standing by the authenticity of those documents without more, as opposed to the accuracy of the content of those documents, with respect to which CBS has many sources -- including the sources counted as anti-CBS in your scorecards.

To me, the relevant presidential issue deals with the question of the President's service, and not the pecadillos of CBS or the hearsay witnesses posed to proxy for the thoughts of a dead man. It may well be that these documents are what they purport to be, or are not. It may be that if they are not, they are facsimiles of documents that were -- in which case there are some VERY interesting stories in which to inquire.

Like all of you, I am dying to know how these documents ended up in CBS' possesion, and would love the "transparency" to understand how that process worked. On the other hand, it is strange, to me, that Ernie doesn't also list among the media above the Chicago Sun-Times, for I would love to know who was the source who committed the CRIME of outing Valerie Plame. Transparency is important to us, yes, but let's be an equal opportunity gadfly, huh?

But to the best of my understanding, while the WH and its surrogates are raking CBS over the coals, not a single peep out of the white house has denied the propositions for which the documents appear to stand -- that a direct order was disregarded and pressure was being exerted on officers to look the other way.

In what moral universe do members of the press argue that the content of story is true, though key evidence has been falsified?

I might put it differently. In what LOGICAL universe can press critics challenge the truth of the content of a story, merely because a question is raised as to the authenticity of some of the evidence.

How, Ernie, in any world in which we populate, does morality factor into this? Is it even colorably plausible that the PUBLIC DISCOURSE should cease to discuss the merits of President Bush's conduct because one news medium introduced evidence some people claim to be bogus as part of a story?

If all you are arguing is that CBS should take its licks if any documents it recites are false or falsely characterized, and loses status to report on anything else, including other truthful facts, ok, but you will also need to pull the reporting credentials of EVERYBODY ELSE IN MEDIA -- probably yourself included. We can shut down FOX and CNN on the evidence cited in mediamatters alone, and we can probably shut down mediamatters because of Brock's earlier attacks on Anita Hill. I don't know anybody who passes that scrutiny.

I think it is perfectly plausible for CBS to take its licks and look foolish for relying on a document that is, in fact, not what it appears, and to argue that they were taken by the fact that every other source as to the underlying facts of the document appeared to support their theory. Their bad, but the conclusions of the story can CLEARLY, AND LOGICALLY be true.

I do not pass on the morality of asserting something that is true is true. You are counting too many angels for me to even begin that discussion . . .

But the LOGIC is unassailable. Let's keep it simple. Assume that CBS posits the following:

(i) P->Z
(ii) Q->Z
(iii) P and Q
(iv) hence Z

A student of the Principia will object, because some intermediate steps, like deriving (P and Q) -> Z from (i) and (ii), have been elided. A person questioning the morality might even attack by saying "you skipped that step on purpose, because you KNOW that Q (the documents) is FALSE!"

But it does not matter, because even though Q is false, the conlcusion is still valid! Z follows from the truth value associated with either P or Q, and hence, the attack doesn't yield a fruitful refutation of Z. It doesn't even bring into DOUBT the validity of Z, because even though "Q->Z," the falsehood of Q does not raise any question about Z. In fact, logically, it is always TRUE that "1=2 implies Ernie is a god." And this is true at multiple levels: Ernie's status as a deity in the forgoing is only vacuously the case, but Ernie might still, nevertheless actually be one -- EVEN THOUGH 1 is not equal to 2.

Not a moral issue, this is a logical one.

Now, moving from logic to rhetoric, the conclusion is really unchanged: once we start substituting "makes plausible" for implication, then the WEIGHT of the evidence of P and Q becomes more significant, and then an attack on the documents might reduce the strength of the case. It would also make a willful introduction of the bogus evidence journalistically reprehensible to the extent that it was used for that purpose.

But it is also quite possible that CBS believed the documents because, on balance, they had enough sources not to question it, the objections of two checker's notwithstanding (we really need to see the missing e-mails to measure that conflict).

But in any case, regardless of whether you wish to hang CBS by a yardarm, it is utterly plausible to argue Z, if supported by the conclusions of ALL OF THE OUTSTANDING AND UNCHALLENGED EVIDENCE were true.

Thank you for the heavy lifting and you invaluable commentary throughout this episode here and in your comments elsewhere.

Andrew Greenberg,

I just wrote up some memos PROVING that Kerry resubmitted for his Purple Heart after being denied it and lied about the event. I've electronically attached the signature of Adm. Zumwalt, who unfortunately died in 1988. I have also recreated memos that ordered Kerry to demonstrate that all 3 Purple Heart medals were for wounds received while engaging the enemy in combat, and not unintentionally self-inflicted while shooting grenades at unarmed fishermen or rice caches.

Hypothetically, of course. That OK with you. I mean, we KNOW the accuracy of the content of memos even if they are not authentic document of "their time".

And, AFAIK, the Plame case is being blown wide open in a federal investigation that has successfully subpoenaed several journalists. So you are advocated a federal investigation into CBS, correct?

Oh, Andrew, when did you stop beating your wife? And if you don't deny it convincingly we all know it must be true - right?

I very interested to watch now as CBS not only destroys its own credibility and brand; but also the DNC, MoveOn and surrogates from the Left as they jump on the sinking ship with their intellectually plastic sand bucket to bail water.

My question is, what does Bush's service/lack thereof say about his plans for Social Security. Does his attendance imply a particular penchant for foreign interventionism? Is it important to have an honorable discharge in order to set sound fiscal policy?

What does any of this have to do with the Italian Lira?

We're being bamboozled, folks. The issue is Iraq, the "War on Terror", the "hunt" for Osama bin Laden, our economic future. Not what happened in Vietnam or Alabama or Texas over 30 years ago.

Nice going. Voting on the headline now: I say clearly incompetence on Rather's part. He allowed himself to become the story. His defense of the story should have stuck to the cumulative value of the evidence, even leaving aside the questionable document. He should have refrained from baiting back at the Rather baiters. He should now step aside and let the story assume its proper place from the outset: Somewhere on the inside pages. I'm with Rob: His actions in office speak sufficiently about his character, if that's really what you want to vote on. Personally, I am going to compare my salary growth to the rise in the cost-of-living index and punish anyone during whose administration the ratio declines. If we all did that, the nation would be in good shape, I bet.

Regarding the equation above, P>Z should be Q>P>Z, since it sounds like Rather's producer has been shopping around a list of documents that she "knows existed, many people have told me about them" and would like to find. When people are confronted with statements that "everybody" remembers that such-and-such happened, their own memories of events, especially faded memories of 30 years past, are altered. There was an interesting study of the Roswell phenomenon that showed this.

It's a marvelous summary and analysis, but for the average American (me) I think the question is pretty straight forward. By its own admission, CBS had a story it couldn't broadcast for FOUR YEARS because it had no proof. ONLY the 4 memorandum permitted the story to be broadcast. Therefore, if there are no valid memos, there is NO STORY by CBS 's own criteria. It all seems pretty binary.

Everything from CBS after the discrediting of the forgeries was simply participation in a conspiracy to commit fraud.

"Preponderance vs. definitive. Double-standards, a mainstay of journalistic ethics courses it would seem."

It is philosophically *impossible* to prove affirmatively the validity of the CBS documents. It takes precisely a *proponderance* of evidence, as stated by Rather. It has nothing to do with "moral universes" and everything to do with reality. There is no double standard.

For comparison, consider the laws of physics, and say gravity in particular. It happens to belong to the realm of theory. Physical "laws" are theories. I don't have one ounce of doubt that our knowledge of the properties of gravity are accurate. However, that knowledge and all other physical laws are nonetheless theories that might one day be falsified. All that needs to happen is for a single apple to not fall as expected to earth, and voila! A single instance of contrary evidence would suffice! Such an event (if recorded and, for practical purposes, reproducable) would falsify the theory of gravity as we know it. It would be *definitive* proof--solid empirical evidence. As it happens, no such event has ever occured, to our knowledge. The point is that one cannot know with certainty that no contrary evidence *will ever* arise. By the same tolken, however, no amount of empirical evidence in support of the theory can ever completely eliminate the possibility of its falseness. It's simply a matter of logic (philosophy?). So we keep trusting the theory because the proponderance of evidence (which is naturally incomplete as you can't test everything that has ever fallen and will fall) suggests that it's true.

Let me repeat this again, as it addresses the core of Ernest's argument and what he seems to be demanding. IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DEFINITIVELY PROVE THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE DOCUMENTS. Maybe in fantasy law land, it's possible, but not in reality. One can always hold a measure of doubt (which is what partisans for Bush are trying to instill in everyone, and which is incidentally a common strategy of defense in cases of law, is it not?). Likewise, one can even doubt the validity of the law of gravity.

So, what's the real issue here? CBS's alleged stonewalling and not bending to critics every demand and accusation? In such a shrill diatribe, on "journalistic integrity" no less, Ernest cites as support The National Review, The Weekly Standard and The New York Post, to name a few?

It's rather obvious that the extremely partisian nature of the criticism, and just plain slothy rhetoric, directed CBS and Rather are merely attacks, which are meant to ruin Rather's credibility and that of the 60 Minutes. Thus, the story on Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard is also meant to be discredited. Is it really any wonder that CBS and many, many, many (hello?) journalists need, and have always needed, to protect the identities of their sources on occasion? Naturally, it is to prevent hatchet jobs like the one we're witnessing right now (and those more serious and threatening) from happening to people who speak out on unpopular subjects. It's not as if Ernest doesn't simply attack the credibility of sources which are cited (such as Richard Katz or the typewriter repair person--who is an "expert" if anyone is on old typewriters; I wonder, could he even exhibit such a model for the world to see?).

Ernest also ignores, with almost autistic repetitiveness and attachment to his mission, all context in his diatribe on CBS's allegedly "incompetent and/or unethical" actions (an irresponsible charge that is repeated ad nauseam--oh my gosh, the irony!). As it has already been suggested, the entire media, part of which Ernest cites as support, is not really credible, ethical, or competent (see the mainstream media's coverage leading up to the war in Iraq, or just watch FOX News or CNN for a couple hours), or even remotely up to the standards which Ernest and others feign to defend with vigor. This is truly a sad state, but it shouldn't be forgotten that it is in no small part due to the journalistic practices of said media sources listed above and blatant attacks like this.

Let's not forget--lest this debate be nothing but a meaningless, pedantic excercise--that the larger issue here is whether the assertions of the story are correct, which neither Ernest nor any of the critics seem to be preoccupied with. This whole thing is a hatchet job, nothing more.

Despite the obvious falsity of Glennon’s statement that the disputed memos could have been done on IBM Executives, CBS was so happy to have someone agree with them that they hired him as an “expert.” See also Tim Blair’s review of Glennon’s evolution:

3. Unfortunately for CBS and Glennon, the IBM Executive’s version of proportional spacing was quite crude compared to the modern version used in MS Word and the forged documents. The character width was much different; when you left two spaces between sentences, the Executive actually left two spaces between sentences (unlike the compressed space between sentences in modern computer fonts). Most crucially, in MS Word and the forgeries, some characters (but not others) are tucked under or over other letters, which font expert Thomas Phinney calls “pseudo-kerning.” An example would be the overlapping characters “fr” in “from.” Because neither Selectrics nor Executives did pseudo-kerning, neither could have been used to generate the forgeries. These are not close questions, as anyone curious enough to check several websites may determine for himself: e.g., Jim Forbes at the Selectric Museum: http://www.selectric.org/selectric/index.html; Phinney at www.flounder.com.

4. A change that you absolutely must make is your discussion of Katz’s “undo button.” Here is my analysis:

One expert to surface after the original story aired is Richard Katz, a software designer. As some bloggers pointed out (http://wizbangblog.com/archives/003658.php), in MS Word the default formatting if you leave a space between a number and a “th” is no superscripting: “147 th.” You can then backspace to remove the space and the “th” will remain ordinary height. No special formatting is necessary to avoid superscripting. If, however, you don’t leave a space before the “th,” the default comes out as a superscript: “147th.”

Examining all six of the forged Killian memos on the USAToday site, I noticed that all three uses of a superscript “th” come immediately after the numbers with no space, just like in Word. On the other hand, for two of the three times where there is no superscript in the memos, there is a space before the “th.” What a coincidence!

Katz, however, doesn’t fully understand how MS Word works and didn’t test his theories. CBS actually posted this exchange on its website as the bulk of its Katz exhibit:

[BEGIN QUOTATION]

RATHER: Katz also noted that the documents have both the so-called superscript T-H and a regular size T-H. That would be common on a typewriter, not a computer.

KATZ: There is one document from May of 1972 which contains a normal T-H at the top. To produce that in Microsoft Word, you would have to go out of your way to type the letters and then turn the T-H setting off or back over them and type them again.

[END QUOTATION]

Katz apparently doesn’t know the easy way to avoid superscripting: just type a space before the “th.” You can then delete the space or not as you please. Instead Katz suggests two harder ways to get rid of the superscript, which are hardly too difficult to imagine a forger doing. Katz claims that you would have to reformat or retype, but he’s wrong.

The sad fact is that Katz’s notions about how superscripting works in MS Word had been exploded on the internet long before CBS posted Katz’s “expert” opinion on its website on Wednesday. It is incredible that someone at CBS wouldn’t have taken a minute to check whether it was Katz or the bloggers who were correctly describing how MS Word works before holding him out as an expert and putting up his mistaken opinion as an exhibit. After all, almost every editor has MS Word on her desk. Like the entire story, I guess it was just “too good to check.” It doesn’t say much for Katz’s competence or his candor if he is allowing CBS to continue to post his “expert” opinion uncorrected.

If Sumner Redstone of Viacom or Leslie Moonves of CBS were curious, they could open MS Word themselves and type “147” followed by a space followed by a “th” and another space. Then they would see whether there is no superscript (as bloggers claim) or whether (as Katz claims) to remove superscripts in MS Word you must reformat the “th” or retype the entire sequence. A reporter from one of CBS’s competitors who sees Bob Schieffer, Dan Rather, or perhaps a CBS reporter on the campaign trail should just open a laptop and take a minute to show them how Word handles superscripts and then ask them why CBS continues to rely on experts that even they now know are wrong.

Isn’t there one honest staffer at CBS or Viacom who can walk into the offices of Redstone, Moonves, Heyward, Schieffer, Hewitt, Mapes, or Rather and take a minute to show them that MS Word does not work as their expert Katz says it does--just as IBM Executives do not work as their other expert (Glennon) says they do. Then someone with power could order the retraction of the forgeries and the incompetent expert opinions. If there are no such honest staffers at CBS or Viacom or if the people in charge refuse to retract expert opinions that they will then know to be wrong (assuming they didn't before), then the culture at CBS is truly sick from top to bottom.

To be fair, I don't think that's a question of honesty. I think that's a question of willingness to be fired and maybe ostracized from many jobs over a matter of principle. That's a much tougher question.

Yes, it's easy to fight to the last drop of someone else's blood. But don't expect ants to be happy to crush themselves in fights between elephants.

Andrew, why dignify an outright lie with an answer if you are POTUS? Why try to answer a lie clearly based on forged documents knowing your political enemies will only twist your words or question your motives to make even more political grist? And here you are making even more grist yourself because George W. refuses to embroil himself in answering to some two-bit forgery operation. Something this transparently false is better left to others to undo which is what is happening this very minute. And another poster is correct, you've just conveniently erected a "have you stop beating your wife" argument.

Quit being a partisan and see the facts for what they are. Ben Barnes, Dan Rather, Bill Burkett, and Rather's own liberal daughter have a Democratic Travis County, Texas connection. Remember when Dan was asked by his daughter to give a speech at a Democratic fundraiser several years ago? All four were there. Hmmmmm. I mean if the left wants a real conspiracy theory, here's one right here to look into.

In an ABC News interview, Colonel Staudt has now weighed in and said the forged documents also portray a false story. First, Staudt never pressured Lt. Colonel Killian, second he was never pressured by anyone, much less Democratic liar and partisan Ben Barnes, to get young George W into the National Guard. CBS can no longer hide behind the fig leaf that the once "authentic" documents are now merely "accurate" in their content. What hubris.

This crap would be laughed out of a court in a Third World country much less here in America. Trying to perpetrate a fraud on the American people and now stonewalling is not going to serve CBS well. The real story here is: Dan Rather for all his bluster and arrogance has lied to the American people because of his well documented hatred of the Bush's. This hatred dates back to when George H.W. Bush publicly made mention of Dan walking off a CBS news set which yield 7 minutes of dead air-time. Liberal Dan can claim all he wants how he is an "independent" (what a joke) and he isn't politically motivated, it still doesn't make it so. And even if he isn't politically motivated I think there is enough evidence to strongly suggest he is personally motivated in going after George W Bush. And this guy is a journalist? Maybe a distant shadow of one.

Here's the score to date: Ben Barnes is a long-time Democratic hack who wasn't even Lt. Governor (as he claimed) when he supposedly gave favored-son help to one George W. Bush to get him into the National Guard. Barnes own daughter, Amy, has publicly called him a liar because he admitted to her he hand to "carry tainted water" for the Democrats and there was a book of his to promote. Add to that rather inconvenient fact that under oath Barnes previously state he never helped Bush get into the guard, a fact now corroborated by Colonel Staudt (who is mentioned in the memos but had previously retired 17 months before).

Bill Burkett - A Texas Democrat activist who has a long standing hatred of the Bush family because he holds George H.W. Bush 41 personally accountable for his health problems when he was stationed in Panama. He is a member of the Army National Guard, not the Air National Guard. If as suspected, he is the author of or the one who merely faxed the fraudulent letters to CBS from an Abilene, Texas Kinkos, then CBS has some really big problems. Burkett is on record as boasting five years ago that he is "reassembling Bush's Guard records". He claims to have miraculously seen Bush's Guard documents being thrown away. We have both motive, opportunity and means why Burkett could have visciously perpetrated a hoax aided and abetted by an already predisposed CBS. Remember, CBS admits to have been trolling for anti-Bush dirt for almost five years in the person of editor Mapes. But the jury is still out on Mr. Burkett's role in all this.

Marion Knox - Killian's secretary. Before going on 60 Minutes she previously admitted on record to the Houston Chronicle she didn't remember George Bush but she did remember several favored sons being on base (Llyod Benson's son was one such). She clearly was angry about that. She is also on record as being a Bush-basher, referring to him as being "selected, not elected". Despite her denials, she is a long-time liberal Democrat who despises the Bush family. Miraculously, however, within a matter of days she recovered her memories (under some convenient coaching from with 60 Minutes staff members or Dan Rather no doubt) and she regaled the American people with how young Bush couldn't remember her name even though he was nice to her, etc. ad nauseum. She also conveniently, a little too conveniently, echoed the CBS new take that the memos were indeed fraudulent but factually accurate. Fraudulent but accurate. This was when CBS began calling the documents "accurate" instead of "authentic", an interesting piece of sohistry to say the list. Nothing like nuancing the news, eh?

Colonel Walter Staudt (ret) - has blown (unless you want to conveniently call him a liar) two of the the fraudulent memos' claims out of the water. One, when he retired from TANG he actually retired. He exercised no more authority over, around, or in Lt. Killian's TANG unit despite the self-serving lies generated by CBS that Staudt was "a bully" and so was probably still pulling strings. Pathetic. Two, George W. never received favors from Staudt or any other favor from any other sources that he was aware of. ABC News broke this story yesterday, 9/17/04. Look it up yourself if you're really interested in the truth.

So, here's where things stand. One can get angry at George W. Bush because he has admitted himself that he did miss a physical (Byron York has a very even-handed account of that episode in the young Lt.'s life). Or one can get angry at John Kerry because in 1971 he has admitted on more than one occasion that he is a war criminal. Where's the intense media follow-up on the latter issue, other than the partisan media syndicate calling all other highly-decorated Swift-boat veterans liars? We have Kerry on tape before the Senate and giving interviews to the media admitting to being involved in war crimes, and we have nothing but liberal hate fantasies regarding the real reason why Bush missed a flight physical 32 years ago.

CBS ought to register now as a Democratic 527 given how it is trying to influence the elections. And if Dan had any shred of self-respect left instead of a bucket full of arrogance and self-righteousness, he would register as a Democratic lobbyist. I think it laughable that for all the spinmeisters, millions of dollars, and minds that CBS has at its
disposal within its ranks, that it still has to depend on people like you to argue their case, and you're not doing a very good job of it either. Truly pathetic.

CBS doesn't need your help, it can broadcast its side of the story anytime it wants, aided and abetted by the NYT, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, ABC, NBC, CNN etc!

Dan Rather and 60 Minutes willingly got snookered and all the king's horses and all the king's men is not going to put this humpty dumpty back together again in the eyes of truly informed Americans. You guys can stick your heads in the sand, but it won't change the fact that these documents were fraudulent from the git-go and the information contained therein are just as suspect now.

The CBS documents aren't just forged, they are fiction. They should not be given any more credence than if the characters were named Cinderella, Snow White or Mork. I've fused synapses trying to understand how supposedly intelligent and honest people can say that the docs are false but the content is accurate. I also believe it a threat to our democracy that the persons saying that control the means to disseminate critical information about how we should our live our lives to millions of Americans.

A reasonable conclusion from the length of time this affair has continued and the totality of CBS statements is that Rather and other decision makers at CBS have concluded that the outcome (deriding the President) is more important to them than the process of reporting news. Taking it one small step further, in the culture at CBS News desired outcome trumps the rules of integrity, honesty and objectivity.

I understand that under Texas law, forging documents in a case like this is a crime. If Burkett did it then could he could be brought to trial along with CBS in Texas? Avoiding the criminal prosecution of Burkett or whoever and CBS is the only good reason I can see that CBS is stonewalling. Someone in Texas should arrest and charge Burkett and CBS and then we will be able to get to the bottom of this.

Just a couple of comments that you are probably seen. I read the three experts Mately, Will and James. From what they have said, none of them got all six of the memos. Mately got one signature. Will and James got at most three. One of them got two because she said that CBS only used one of the two that she examined. The fourth, Pierce has supposely indicated that CBS has more than 6 documents. All of this indicates that CBS was expert shopping. Not exactly an ethical position.

I'm afraid most you don't get it. CBS, Et. Al., are not Churches, nor non-profit organizations. As such they have made one single promise - TO MAKE MONEY. All else is simply a means to this end. Truth is commodity that has little value today. It is also often subject to perspective and qualification. If, in the end, CBS profits from this incident, then it is proof they are both competent and ethical.

This is the link that discusses expert shopping. CBS never sent all 6 documents to any one expert. Two documents were so bad that CBS could not use them or release them. CBS has not named an expert who saw and attempted authenicated all four of the documents that it released. Never mind that the CBS never had the originals. Yet CBS said it authenicated all 4 documents. Incompetent or unethical? Fraud is a better descrition.

Here's the deal. People are focusing on the documents and putting aside the "core" story because until the documents are thrown out the evidence for the core story is tainted. Making judgments about something based on false evidence is pointless. It certainly would never be allowed in a court of law. If CBS had retracted their support for the documents and people were still arguing about the documents nonetheless then you might have a point. But CBS has done no such thing and has insisted on the documents remaining part of the story. Until that situation is addressed, and the true balance of the evidence is assembled and analyzed free of the taint of the forgeries, no one can come to a reasonable judgment about the situation. Sure you can argue that the other evidence would remain unchanged, but that doesn't take into account human nature and human perception, and how much of the other opinions were formed because of the supposed existence (and proof provided by) the "smoking gun" memos.

To Jesse specifically, in regards to preponderance of the evidence and definitive evidence and double-standards:
I think you missed Ernest's point entirely in your response. He was making the point (I believe) that Dan rather is applying one standard of proof to his own work and a different standard of proof to his critics. Here's the pertinent paragraph again.

RATHER: The 60 Minutes report was based not solely on the recovered documents, but on a preponderance of evidence, including documents that were provided by what we consider to be solid sources, and interviews with former officials of the Texas National Guard. If any definitive evidence to the contrary of our story is found, we will report it. So far there is none.

If you read the quote, Dan Rather basically says that to prove his case that President Bush shirked his duty, all he needs is "a preponderance of evidence". For anyone to prove the case that the memos are false, they need to provide "definitive evidence". The question is, why should one standard apply in one case and another standard in the other? The only reasonable explanation seems to be that it's more convenient for Dan Rather that way. He only has to find a preponderance of evidence while his critics have to provide definitive evidence (not that they are findiing it particularly difficult). That's where the double-standard comes in.

If anything, you could argue that it should be the other way around. If you are going to trash someone's repuation you should have definitive evidence of your case. The burden is on you to provide real proof, not just half-baked indications.

Incompetent? The term tends to imply an absence of malice. The sort of gross negligence exhibited by CBS News transcends mere incompetence. My seven year old nephew is incompetent to produce a major segment on 60 Minutes, and yet he's perfectly competent to determine that the memos in question are forgeries when provided with the data that CBS had at their disposal.

I don't watcht cbs anymore not even the dattime programs. I am usually a good person and I try to be fair. BUT!!!! this is not fair. I can't believe the Demorcrats don't feel they can win without getting dirty. Don't they have any issues they can win on or just to bash Bush and have all the HOLLYWOODIS get on board and bash Pres Bush. No wonder the terroists are doing what they are doing. They don't know who to believe.

The Boston Globe from INDC Journal
I'm really too tired to take a swipe at the Globe's new editorial, so I'll just let Hugh Hewitt do the heavy lifting: "UNLESS THE documents used by "60 Minutes" in a broadcast on President Bush's National Guard service were... [Read More]

Tracked on September 17, 2004 06:40 PM

Incompetent or unethical? You decide. from A Bluegrass Blog
Ernest Miller has the The Importance of... > Incompetent or Unethical? The Story of CBS News' Response to Criticism Over the Killian Memos" href="http://www.corante.com/importance/archives/006222.php">best timeline of criticism of the CBS response to c... [Read More]

Tracked on September 17, 2004 09:43 PM

One more priesthood: from jjdaley.com
Ernest Miller wonders why major media hasn't come to a judgment, not about the authenticity of the Killian memos, but about the stonewalling at CBS. Where are the outraged calls for more transparency on the part of CBS News from the editorial boards of... [Read More]

Rathergate: Why the media silence? from New Media Musings
Over at Corante, Ernest Miller has the best summary -- and most impressive timeline -- I've yet seen of l'affair Rather, focusing on CBS's reaction to questions about the authenticity of those Bush National Guard memos. In "Incompetent or Unethical? [Read More]

Tracked on September 17, 2004 10:31 PM

Modern Journalism A Bankrupt Institution from joe mullins dot com
I suspect that many of you have at least heard of the whole rathergate issue. If not, Corante has an exhaustive timeline of the whole issue. Long story short, the documents calling into question Bushes national guard service are fake,... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 12:05 AM

Did CBS's Source Call Bush Hitler? from La Shawn Barber's Corner
Can't ignore it, folks. I have to keep you updated on Dan Rather's forged memos.
The Houston Chronicle says:If Burkett does prove to be the source of the documents, CBS got them from a man with a well-established history of Bush loathing.
In an... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 02:52 AM

Miller's CBS Timeline & a short "Document Count" timeline from The Dead Parrot Society
Ernest Miller has published an in-depth timeline of CBS' responses to the Bush document controversy. It's a must read. With respect to my concern regarding how many documents CBS does or does not have in their possession, Miller points out a statement ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 03:00 AM

An Autopsy of CBS's Meltdown from TheGantelope
Ernest Miller of Corante has a fairly comprehensive chronology of RatherGate for those who may have taken the time to eat or sleep in the past week, and hence missed some of CBS's self-mutilation.... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 06:40 AM

A REALTIME from PRESTOPUNDIT -- "Kerry in Cambodia" Wall-to-Wall Coverage
HISTORY OF RATHERGATE. UPDATE: See also the indepth report, "Incompetent or Unethical? The Story of CBS News' Response to Criticism Over the Killian Memos" by Ernest Miller of the... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 06:49 AM

Re: How the blogs can beat Rathergate from Liberty's Century
Jim Geraghty over at Kerry Spot has a post on How the Blogs can beat Rather:"There is another possibility, however. The bunch of them â€” Heyward, Rather, and producer Mary Mapes â€” could get fired and their reputations could be... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 07:53 AM

CBS arrogance and collateral damage from The Dead Parrot Society
I've just now had time to read Ernest Miller's deep, thorough recap of CBS' responses to critics in the memo controversy, which Victor linked to a couple posts ago. I think I could use a stiff drink. Because of real-life demands, I've only been able to... [Read More]

What's the Frequency? A RatherGate Sing/Link-a-Long from A Small Victory
"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed I thought I'd pegged you an idiot's dream Tunnel vision from the outsider's screen I never understood the frequency You wore our expectati... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 02:07 PM

the great dox saga yet again from BARISTA
Corante has tracked the CBS document fight in detail through the last week. If you are as fascinated as I am by the whole kerning/superscript/selectric boondoggle, it provides a lucid timeline, and some sad truths which turn to arpan galapish... [Read More]

Tracked on September 18, 2004 05:11 PM

Rathergate Update: A Kerry Connection? from Watcher of Weasels
Allah speculates about the possibility that CBS might have actually gotten the forged documents from Bill Burkett via the Kerry Campaign, rather than directly from Burkett himself... there's an interesting post about this over at Blogs for Bush, ... [Read More]

Tracked on September 19, 2004 04:39 AM

The Issue is Not The Frame from Greater Democracy
by Dana Blankenhorn The only reason the Bush or Kerry Vietnam records matter at all is because…we are in Vietnam right now. Iraq is Vietnam. We’re bleeding people, we’re bleeding money, we’re bleeding our credibility, and we have no good... [Read More]

Tracked on September 19, 2004 02:34 PM

Journalism Fraud Update: Sept. 20/04 from Winds of Change.NET
We give you the key updates and powerhouse pieces that let you follow the CBS forged memos scandal, and look at allegations that FOX News used forged documents to attack Kerry. [Read More]